The Home of Australian Craft Beer

Mornington Peninsula Brewery Brewery

How many great ideas are concocted between mates over a few beers every time the AFL Grand Final rolls around? And how many do you reckon actually reach fruition? Not many, I'd wager. So tip your hats to the guys behind the Mornington Peninsula Brewery whose "Let's open a brewery!" conversation as the Hawks downed the Cats in 2008 became a reality in just two years.

Built inside a factory once used to manufacture exploding golf balls, the brewery is about a kilometre from the Mornington Racecourse and the same distance from the town itself. It has become a serious destination for beer lovers with the brewing side of operations headed up by Andrew "AG" Gow, whose pedigree includes stints at Mountain Goat, Matilda Bay and 5 Islands (now Illawarra) in NSW.

Designed to offer beer lovers the great combination of beer and wood-fired pizza, you can also soak up the atmosphere with live music played every Sunday afternoon while your pizza (made with dough using beer!) is cooking in the impressive stainless steel oven. For those more into the brewing side of things you might even catch the brewers at work as you gaze out over the brewing system from the mezzanine area.

Of Mornington Peninsula's regular range, the American Pale Ale, English Brown Ale and US-inspired IPA are the biggest sellers, with the Pale and IPA now available in can as well as keg and bottle. However, it was the specialty beers with which Mornington first started to draw attention, with beers as varied as their trophy-winning Imperial Stout, various shades of IPA and the popular Sorachi Kolsch appearing under the 'seasonal' title and brewed with such regularity their posters cover huge swathes of the venue's walls. With wine barrel tables and plenty of seating too, Mornington Peninsula Brewery has become a great destination for beer lovers on the Peninsula.

Such has been the popularity of their beers that in the second half of 2014 they built a new, much larger brewery, a short distance away where they also operate a canning line. They were only the second Aussie micro to instal its own canning line, with a growing number since following suit.

The Regulars

Tapped Sun Nov 16 2014

Mornington Peninsula Brewery's IPA has had quite the journey. It was one of the brewery's first ever seasonal releases, winning plenty of admirers from the off as one of the bigger, brasher local takes on the American IPA style. Over time it's been refined, losing nothing in the way of hop aroma or flavour but becoming a more balanced beast along the way.
It also proved so popular that it wasn't long before it became part of the brewery's core range and was soon one of their top three sellers, with ···
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Tapped Thu Dec 9 2010

Back in the day, Mornington's IPA was their third limited release from the then fledgling brewery and was their biggest yet. It's since become a popular member of the year round range (and also superseded in the "biggest" sense by several imperial releases. It's an IPA that, like their Pale Ale, takes its lead from those coming out of the US, a "light orange-tinted amber in colour" beer that packs the stone fruit aromas - peach and apricots - plus plenty of passionfruit that ···
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Tapped Sat Oct 16 2010

When Crafty first visited the brewery, Mornington Peninsula's brewer AG - ever the optimistic Saints fan - said their first specialty release would be a porter called the Premiership Porter. Things didn't quite pan out for St Kilda but, he says, "thankfully it's not taken on any sour characteristics (unlike the brewer)". Instead, he says it possesses a "rich, smooth mouthfeel" that's "long in the palate" and has chocolate and coffee notes "from areshole to breakfast". ···
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Brewed using classic imported English ale malts, the Brown that first hit taps at the brewery is closer to those found in the north of England, full of nutty malt characteristics backed up with some toffee, chocolate and hints of raisin. It's a rich, full-flavoured beer, pouring a reddish brown that, as brewer AG develops the recipe, will begin to display more of the toffee flavours found in English Browns from the south of the country. ···
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Pouring a cloudy golden yellow with a tightly packed white head, Mornington's Pale takes its lead from the American style of Pale Ale with prominent citrus and stone-fruit aromas, showcasing the American and Australian hops added late in the brewing process. It's a good example of the style that's been gently tweaked since the brewery opened, with the late hopping increased to boost the aromatics and lighter hop flavours, while maintaining bitterness at a level that keeps the beer sessionable. ···
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Golden Yellow

Style

American Pale Ale

Strength

4.7%

The Specials

Tapped Tue Nov 15 2016

Since they started canning at their second brewery site, Mornington Peninsula hasn't been shy in bringing new beers to market. Their #tinnage limited release range has popped out a new (or previously only available on tap) beer every month or two. Yet they've not made as much fanfare about any of those beers – even those that became Australia's first nitro cans – as they are with Hop Culture, a beer that comes with a striking design bolder even than any of those #tinnage beers.
They clearly have ···
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Tapped Thu Sep 29 2016

A few years back, Mornington Peninsula Brewery was one of the first local breweries to release a beer commercially showcasing the much-hyped new US hop Mosaic. If memory serves, The Crafty Pint's first encounter led us to believe it was the most juicily orangey of IPAs we'd come across at that point. But, as the hop has become one of the most popular for local brewers (particularly in American influenced pales and IPAs) it's become clear why it was given the name "Mosaic" as, used in different ···
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Tapped Fri Aug 26 2016

The limited run cans bearing the #tinnage nomenclature keep coming from Mornington Peninsula. And, now that they've got the ability to nitro dose their beers on the canning line, why not?
The first beer to utilise their new gadget was #tinnage004 – a creamier take on their ESB. And now the treatment has been meted out to their limited run milk stout, a beer that had already been given #tinnage duties – the debut in the series, no less. Now back as number six, the Friesian on the label has been ···
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Tapped Thu Jul 28 2016

They're wasting little time ripping through their limited release #tinnage brews at Mornington Peninsula this winter. It's not that long since we got our hands on #tinnage004 – a creamy ESB that was Australia's first nitro'd can – and they're remaining in hearty malt territory for #tinnage005, albeit with a fruity dose of yeasty fun.
Russel Brown is the latest of their previously draught-only limited releases to graduate to the canning line and is a Belgian style ale built upon the foundations ···
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Tapped Tue Jun 21 2016

When you're located in one of the country's best wine regions, it makes sense in today's climate of anything goes to collaborate with one of your neighbours for a spot of grape on grain action. And when that region is best known for its delightful cool climate Pinot Noir, why not base said collaboration around those grapes?
That's what happened recently on the Mornington Peninsula, where the brewery of that name hooked up with Montalto to create a beer that is the result of co-fermenting its popular ···
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Tapped Thu Jun 16 2016

They like sailing close to the wind on occasion with the artwork for their ongoing limited release cans, with number four arriving with the title Dog's Bollocks and an image of a Union Jack-wearing bulldog complete with dangly bits on the tin. Thankfully, testicles aside, the dog – and what's inside the can – are rather more approachable representations of the Mother Country than those currently laying waste to French cities in the name of football during Euro 2016.
The reference to wind in the ···
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Tapped Fri Mar 4 2016

Mornington Peninsula Brewery's range of limited edition can releases going by the #tinnage banner reaches entry number 003. The beer to get the call up and done fancy new clothes is an oatmeal pale that originally appeared as a limited release, draught only beer. Now it's been reinvented as Whysocereal? complete with angry cartoon-adorned tin.
A mere 400 cases have been produced and are being distributed nationwide. Brewer AG reckons it's a "highly smashable summery ale with lovely citrus and ···
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Tapped Wed Jan 13 2016

As reasons for brewing a beer go, creating one that punters might struggle to pronounce at the bar is one of the more spurious we've come across. Although given Indefatigable is an 11 percent ABV hop explosion, we imagine anyone going back to the bar for a second or third might struggle to pronounce it even if it was called Bob.
Inspired by the extremely hopped ales popularised by West Coast USA brewers, it's tagged as a "triple IPA" thus slotting in at the upper end of the brewery's series ···
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Tapped Fri Oct 23 2015

They've been putting the canning line at Mornington Peninsula through its paces in recent months. There's been a run of Imperial IPA, another of coffee collaboration Commonfolk Stout, the addition of Lager in cans as well as bottles and the launch of the #tinnage series that sees favourite beers from their limited release range reinvented with funky artwork they hope will become collector's items. First to get the treatment was the Friesian coated Sacchariferous Stout and now their Red Ale follows ···
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Tapped Mon Sep 14 2015

One can fairly safely conclude that we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, given Aussie drinkers can now get their hands on two locally brewed imperial IPAs in cans. You couldn't even get local craft beer in cans three years ago, godammit!
When SA's Pirate Life opted to pop their 8.8 percent ABV beauty in cans – in 500ml longtubes, no less – when they launched earlier in the year, it felt like it could be a gamble, yet, having spoken to one of the brewers recently, they've been a roaring success. ···
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Tapped Thu Aug 27 2015

Mornington Peninsula Brewery has decided to have a bit of fun with its canning line. To date, its Pale and IPA have been the two beers to get the treatment but, now that they're old hands with the gear, they've decided to launch a series of small batch releases too. They're going under the #tinnage moniker and will be released in 300 case, never to be repeated batches, each featuring quirky artwork.
First up for the #tinnage treatment is a beer that first appeared in keg earlier this winter: the ···
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Tapped Wed Jul 1 2015

When one Good Beer Week collaboration release in a week just isn't enough... At the same time that the imperial schwarzbier from the World of Beer Masterclass at Hawkers arrives comes the beer created two days later on the Mornington Peninsula, where the brewery of that name welcomed Danish Kiwi brewing legend Soren from 8 Wired to join them for the day.
The plan was to use one of Soren's favourite toys, Brettanomyces, in particular the Bruxellensis strain, to create a Brett IPA featuring all Aussie ···
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Tapped Wed Jun 24 2015

If there's one thing Mornington Peninsula Brewery does particularly well, it's dark beers. OK, so it does lots of beers very well, but any lineup that includes their Brown, Porter and Imperial Stout is a winner in anyone's books. For the winter of 2015, they're adding a few more too. A black lager came and went without us noticing (oops) but we were back on the case with a new stout.
Going by the name Sacchariferous Stout (with the long word meaning "containing sugar") it is a sweet / milk ···
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Tapped Fri Apr 17 2015

For its eighth Hopfest, the Alehouse Project team ensured there would be the usual lineup of rare, new or one-off beers on offer. And among them is the first collaboration brew featuring the venue's owner, Alex Summers. The man who has become something of a hero to the beer nerds of Melbourne's north for his nonstop efforts to secure beers they've not seen before and probably won't again hooked up with one of his favourite breweries, Mornington Peninsula, and together they crafted the sort of beer ···
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Tapped Thu Oct 30 2014

They weren't kidding when they said the release schedule was about to ramp up. There must have been some serious build up of creative juices going on at Mornington HQ while the new brewery commissioning was going on as we make this three new releases in a fortnight.
This time around, it's a variation on a theme. One of Mornington's earliest releases was their Porter, a beer that remains one of their finest but which also nudges at the top end of what a porter can be in terms of its bold flavours ···
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Tapped Mon Oct 20 2014

When announcing details of his last limited release, Mornington's head brewer promised they'd be ramping up to their former frequency now that the installation of a new brewery is complete. And true to his word, here's another. It's one that's inspired by a few styles he's spied in the US, one that uses oatmeal – an ingredient more commonly found in darker beers such as stouts – within a pale.
He tells us: "This is a style that a few breweries in the US are starting to brew so l thought ···
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Tapped Tue Oct 7 2014

What with a new brewery coming online in recent weeks, things have been more than busy down at Mornington Peninsula Brewery. Hence a relative lack of one-off releases from them, at least compared to their normal prolific output. However, it seems that is about to change as in sending through details on a beer that debuted at the recent Alehouse Project Hopfest, head brewer AG signed off with: “Back to the good ol' days!” In other words, following this there’s another one following hot on its ···
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Tapped Tue Jun 24 2014

He came, he saw, he saison-ed. During his visit to Melbourne for Good Beer Week, Brian Strumke from Stillwater Artisanal completed three collaborations - all of them variations on his favourite style of beer. The first of them to hit venues is the one he created at Mornington Peninsula on a brew day that was also an event at which guests travelled to the brewery for the day. The guests were allowed to choose the name and, what with the saison featuring native Australian pepperberry, they chose Peppers ···
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Tapped Thu May 15 2014

You'd think with all their Good Beer Week events, not least a collaborative brew with the USA's Stillwater, and GABS on the horizon ' as well as the defence of their Best Stout Trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards ' it would be time for early nights and slippers by the fire down at Mornington Peninsula Brewery. But it seems you just can't keep those lovable rogues down. And thus it is that they are back with yet another limited release. It's a Red Ale ' not to be confused with their ···
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Tapped Tue Apr 1 2014

The cans keep on coming, with Mornington Peninsula Brewery following in the footsteps of the Australian Brewery and Mountain Goat by popping craft beer into cans. They've installed their own canning line and first to make an appearance, in rather fetching black and gold livery, is their Pale Ale. Already an appealingly aromatic, balanced and flavoursome beer, it has received its first tweak in the three and a half years since it was the brewery's launch beer. The tweak takes the form of dry hopping ···
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Tapped Tue Jan 14 2014

Midway through presenting the "Malt" week of the beer course we run with a fellow Good Beer Weeker late last year, we fell out. Not in a punching each others' lights out or sulking way, just in a "tomayto / tomahto" kind of way. He said Black IPAs were just gimmick beers, something brewed for geeks to talk about, we felt that they were a valid style and, when made well, one of the tastiest outcomes of the modern craft beer world's love of melding styles. Whether you think it gimmick ···
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Tapped Wed Nov 13 2013

Has any brewery got to 500 brews as fast as Mornington Peninsula Brewery? They only marked three years in business in October but have just reached that milestone. With big expansion plans in mind and a canning line on the way, it's all go for a brewery that has won a place in the hearts of many a beer lover across Australia and was shortlisted for Champion Small Brewer at this year's Australian International Beer Awards. To mark the feat, they've returned to where it started: their Pale Ale, but ···
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Tapped Tue Aug 27 2013

Having achieved a podium finish in the most recent Crafty Pint Blind Tasting for their booziest beer, Mornington Peninsula Brewery is exploring the other end of the beer spectrum with its lowest ABV release yet. The Little Irish Red is an idea that's been bouncing around head brewer AG's mind for a while and now sees the light of day. The idea was to "show that it is indeed possible to pack some flavour and body into a low ABV beer" and, what's more, he tells us: "I think I have done ···
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Tapped Thu Jun 20 2013

Even in its darkest days, the Australian beer world produced some cracking stouts, from the well known, such as Cooper's Best Extra, to the lesser lights, such as Southwark. And as it races ever onwards and upwards into its bright new future, it continues to knock out amazing stouts in all shapes and sizes. For the past two years, the Best Stout trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards has stayed at home, despite the fact this is a category, unlike those featuring hoppier beers, in which ···
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Tapped Wed May 15 2013

AG's going easy on old Crafty these days. Where once the Mornington Peninsula brewer would crank out another new beer with his team every couple of days, he's been taking things at a more sedate pace recently. That said, with such a vast range already on offer and a voracious and appreciative following, it's not as if they've not been kept busy. However, they're back this week with the second release in a Belgian trilogy. According to AG it's "Pouring a light amber hue with a tightly-packed ···
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Tapped Tue Mar 19 2013

The crew at the Local Taphouse Ale Stars clearly got a taste for the brewing lifestyle when they created their 13 Hours On A Bus beer with Bridge Road Brewers a few months back. Because they've been at it again, with the St Kilda crew heading down to Mornington Peninsula Brewery for a brew day and the Darlinghurst mob trotting along to Hunter Beer Co in the Hunter Valley to create another. First to hit the taps was the Bonzer IPA created by the St Kilda Ale Stars. The Bonzer is a Belgian IPA, of ···
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Tapped Thu Feb 21 2013

In all honesty, we were getting rather concerned that something terrible had happened on the Mornington Peninsula. Fully two months had passed since we'd been notified of a new release from the prolific team at Mornington Peninsula Brewery. Should we notify the emergency services or start calling round the hospitals? Thankfully, normal service has resumed with the arrival of their Mosaic IPA. And, while it's a new beer, it's one that shares a trait with some of their past releases. One assumes that ···
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Tapped Wed Dec 12 2012

With the mercury rising and holiday season on the way, the Mornington Peninsula boys are serving up a pilsner for your delectation. Their latest seasonal is the brainchild of brewer Matt Inchley, designed to be as true to style as possible: all Saaz hops, pilsner malt, unfiltered. According to the man behind it, the beer is: "Deep burnished gold in colour ... with a
dense, snow white head. Rich and complex aromas of grass and soft spice interweave with bready yeast notes. A spicy hop presence ···
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Tapped Thu Oct 11 2012

To mark their Oktoberfest, the brewers at Mornington Peninsula Brewery have concocted a rarity among their beers - a lager. And because it's Oktoberfest time, it's a Marzen, the richly malty German lager found pouring at the Munich fest itself. Described as "light copper in colour with a densely packed head of foam" it has "nutty aromas [that] lead into hazelnut notes, [with] Vienna and Munich malts providing a mild bready backdrop." The brewers say it's: "A mildly hopped, ···
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Tapped Thu Sep 13 2012

The unstoppable brewing force that is AG is back with another limited release. Not just that, but he's announcing the next one in line at the same time; something tells us there must be more than one brewhouse down on the Peninsula... Anyway, before the Marzen lands, his tour of Europe that commenced in Scotland last time around heads south of the border for an English style IPA. That means a blend of traditional English hops and toffee-like malts to create a golden amber ale that, according to the ···
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Tapped Wed Aug 22 2012

You have to wonder how long it will take the brewers at Mornington Peninsula Brewery to run out of beer styles to brew for their specials. In less than two years, they've banged out everything from a series of Imperials to a White IPA and much in between. Latest cab off the rank is a Scottish Ale, one which we're told is based on the 80/- (or 80 shilling style) - the sort we used to pour down our throats in Rose Street pubs when we were a lad after watching rugby at Murrayfield. Brewer AG says to ···
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Tapped Wed Jul 18 2012

Things are getting dark on the peninsula. Very dark... as AG prepares to unleash the Mornington Peninsula Russian Imperial Stout around Australia. The third in the brewery's imperial range - all of which will be packaged together from August for those of you who like your beers big - it's "deep espresso in colour with a thick, tan head" says the man behind it. He add: "Enticing aromas of coffee and dark chocolate lead into a complex and moreish palate. Liquorice, cocoa and dark fruit ···
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Tapped Thu Jun 14 2012

They don't hang about at Mornington Peninsula Brewery. Since racing out of the traps less than two years ago, they've released all manner of beers into the Aussie beer world. And now here comes their first English ale. Word from the brewery is it's deep orange in colour and delivers "sweet malt aromas of toffee and raspberry, underpinned by an earthy hop bouquet". Intriguingly this is followed by "sweet marmalade and fruit bun flavours" plus some nuttiness and bitterness. Given ···
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Tapped Wed May 16 2012

One of a handful of beers that was debuted at the 2012 Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular that looks like becoming a semi-regular release from its brewery is the second Imperial beer from Mornington Peninsula. The Imperial Amber sees pretty much every element of the beer ramped up to 11, with brewer AG describing it as "burnished copper in appearance, its aromas of caramel and fig jam are melded with subtle citrus hop character. The lashings of American hops used in this beer are balanced with ···
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Tapped Wed Mar 21 2012

We've had straight IPAs, double IPAs, black IPAs, rye IPAs. Now it's time for Australia's first White IPA. The latest cab off the rank at Mornington Peninsula is a hybrid between a Belgian Wit and an American IPA that brewer AG first read about in an American brewing magazine. Apparently it was first brewed as a collaboration between Deschutes and Boulevard Brewing, who specialise in Belgian beers. He says: "The idea is too have a souped up version of a witbier, citrus hops complementing coriander ···
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Tapped Tue Dec 20 2011

Over the past 12 months, the chaps at Mornington Peninsula Brewery have proven themselves as adept at brewing quality limited release beers as conjuring interesting images to go with them. None, however, has been quite as interesting as that drawn up for this, their Aussie Ale, a beer made with all Australian ingredients that's been tapped at the brewery bar just in time for Christmas. Deep golden in color, brewer AG (when not dipping his toes in Port Phillip Bay) told us that "the Australian ···
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Tapped Thu Sep 1 2011

Not too long ago, it seemed you couldn't go a week without Mornington Peninsula sending another quality treat our way: IPA, Double IPA, Falconer's Amber and so on. Having given us just about enough time to catch our breath, they're back with an Oatmeal Stout. Resisting the temptation to go BIIIIG as many Aussie micros have done this winter, the aim instead has been to create a smooth, luscious beer. The man behind it tells us it's "deep, dark brown in colour, pouring with a tan head", has ···
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Tapped Tue May 24 2011

We await being shot down by a disgruntled brewer somewhere telling us we're wrong, but we believe this is a hoppy first for a commercial brew in Australia. Mornington Peninsula's latest beer takes its name from the Falconer's Flight hop pellet developed in tribute to US brewing legend Glen Falconer, a man who plied his trade at Rogue and Wild Duck in his time, winning back to back golds at the Great American Beer Festival in 2002 and 2003. Released in December 2010, it's actually a blend of several ···
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Tapped Thu Apr 14 2011

Given the reception the brewery's recent IPA got, there's going to plenty of people awaiting the arrival of its big brother. The latest specialty beer from Mornington Peninsula is an Imperial IPA, tipping the scales at a hold-onto-your-hats-folks 8.5% ABV. Brewer AG says it's "burnt orange in colour" and "delivers ripe stonefruit and rock candy aromas through the lavish additions of American aroma hops". As for the palate, he says the hops are in charge there too - "citrus, ···
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Tapped Wed Feb 23 2011

The latest specialty release from Mornington Peninsula will be hoping to catch the last of the summer as it's their take on the Saison style brewed in Belgium for the benefit of thirsty harvest workers. We've yet to get Crafty's smackers around it, but if the quality of its predecessor, the wonderfully full-flavoured IPA is anything to go by, we won't be wasting any time in doing so. According to brewer AG, the beer "pours a hazy orange colour with an off white head" with "tart and ···
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Tapped Mon Jan 10 2011

One of the first beers commercially brewed in Australia to feature the Sorachi Ace hop developed by Japanese brewery Sapporo, this is also the latest special from the fledgling Mornington Peninsula Brewery. This Kolsch style beer is described by brewer AG as "a clean, crisp, delicately balanced beer" it has a compact snow white head and displays "subtle aromas of grass and lemon". It's got a light, smooth mouthfeel and has a lemongrass tang on the palate from the Sorachi Ace. ···
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Tapped Fri Nov 5 2010

The second special to appear from the tanks at the fledgling Mornington Peninsula Brewery is a hefeweizen, which is being tapped for the very first time at pretty much the exact second this description appears on Crafty. Which means we haven't tasted it yet. However, brewer AG says it's got all elements you could wish for in a hefe: banana, cloves - even a hint of cinnamon. He says it's got a tart finish, making it very refreshing. However, he also claims it's based on an old family recipe passed ···
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